At the start of 2015, it became readily apparent that Afghanistan will undergo significant transformations in the coming years. The United States referred to the year 2014 as a “transition” point for Afghanistan, as the International Security Assistance Force’s (ISAF) drawdown of forces shifted more of the security and economic responsibility to the Afghan government. […]

Violent extremism has been a predominant regional and global security challenge for several decades, but in recent years, it has become more attractive to disenfranchised people all over the world. A combination of theology, political ideology and media savvy messaging make groups like Daesh, Al Qaeda and al Shabab relevant and uniquely positioned to broadcast […]

As corporate social responsibility (CSR) becomes widespread practice around the world, there are many questions surrounding its implementation in Muslim-majority nations. How has CSR evolved in different Muslim-majority nations and throughout the world? How do Islamic banking and transactions play a role? Can CSR support employability efforts, entrepreneurship, and job creation? How can CSR activities […]

Often overshadowed by its political turmoil, the Middle East faces increasing environmental and resource-based challenges, such as depleting water resources. Recognizing the need to find possible collective solutions, the Hollings Center and the Prince Mohammad bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies at the University of Central Florida convened a conference to address challenges […]

Central Asia is the region that isn’t exactly a region. The republics trade globally, but relatively little with one another. Their border and customs policies remain highly dysfunctional despite well‐meaning international aid programs. And much of the new infrastructure in the region has developed to serve national territory, rather than to better connect states to one another. Central […]

Iraq is in a critical stage of political and economic development, and its growing potential as a regional lynchpin runs alongside great domestic uncertainty, divisions and soul-searching about where the country is headed. Where is Iraq headed as a nation, and what can next-generation Iraqi leaders do to bridge regional and sectarian divisions? A young […]

July 2012 The political upheavals in the Middle East have shifted the foreign policy landscape in the region. States like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are implementing assertive foreign policies in a region that was arguably dominated for decades by U.S. foreign policy. What comparative advantages do aspiring regional powers have? Will they compete with […]

October 2011 Until recently, the economic dimensions of the Arab Spring have played second fiddle to high-order political issues. Policymakers and pundits have focused much more on the posturing of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt or on debating whether an Nahda will upend the secular order in Tunisia. Less attention […]

June 2009 [doc id=17156]Afghanistan’s 2004 Constitution revived a system of highly centralized government with a strong presidency. Six years later, it is apparent that this arrangement is failing on many counts. The Hollings Center for International Dialogue and the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (AIAS) convened pre-eminent experts from Afghanistan, Europe, Turkey, and the United […]

July 2008 This dialogue conference focused on Afghanistan’s significant economic, cultural, and political relationships with its neighbors in the region beyond Pakistan. Scholars, experts, and policy professionals from Afghanistan, the Central Asian Republics, the European Union, Turkey and the United States addressed Afghanistan’s impact on its neighbors, the significance of trans-national ethnicities and the effects […]